Time for change

When you need information that you don’t have, you are usually not aware that you need it. If you only have partial information, you will make the best story possible with the information you have - and your confidence will be determined by the coherence of that story.


Marketing is what we do when we want things to be different, for example, to change the culture or to change the behaviour of our target audience. When you are comparing brands with each other, you may have generated external preferences by association or memory, not only because of what you see in the given moment. What you see in the moment may make you think of the other brand, therefore, you be aware that the influence of context is really powerful and extremely easy to exaggerate.

I think marketing is the work of telling a story that is true to someone specific. And this story will help them to see the world differently and/or take a different action. This is because the only purpose of marketing is to make a change. Nowadays marketing should be a generous act of leading people towards the change you want to make. Contact me via e-mail for specific guidance on:-
a) Who’s it for?
b) What are the changes you seek to make?

---

Pattern recognition

I grew up in South London and in order to survive, I had to use mental shortcuts to solve problems, evaluate situations and quickly make judgments. The psychologist, B. F. Skinner said, “Man is the sum of his learned experiences.” What I did’t realise until later in life was I was using heuristics. Heuristics are rule-of-thumb strategies to shorten decision-making time and allow people to function without constantly stopping to think about their next course of action. When we use heuristics, we risk ignoring important information and overvaluing less relevant information. Are you aware about your decision-making process?

Anyone working in advertising, branding or marketing should have a working understanding of heuristics because consumers often rely on heuristics when making decisions about purchases. This requires more mental resources and usually leads to more rational choices. Both “limited quantity” and “limited time” advertisements influence consumers’ intentions to purchase, but “limited quantity” messages are more effective, for example, this explains why people get so excited over the “one-day-only” Black Friday sales. Stereotypes are an example of how heuristics can go wrong as these broad generalisations do not always apply, and their continued use can have serious consequences. 

I have been victim of stereotyping, both personally and professionally. My positive life philosophy has given me confidence to accept, respect and appreciate the experiences that are unfolding in front of me. l tend to favour an inclusive workplace, usually by virtue of my age and temperament people have always found it comfortable confiding in me. This is because I am generous in my praise and measured in my criticism. Don’t be shy, contact me via e-mail for a calm appraisal and collective guidance.

---

Can we learn to make better decisions?

I attended a dinner party last Friday and one of the topics of discussion was Daniel Kahneman’s book, “Thinking Fast and Slow”. For us people in marketing, we don’t need a perfect understanding of psychology all we need is a way of thinking about the way people think. One of the things that makes it really useful for us marketeers is that the book gives a very intelligent and perceptive way of doing it.


In general, people are really good at seeing the mistakes that other people make and are not so good at seeing the mistakes they are making. I am not a self-help guru but Kahneman highlights that educated gossip is a very good thing because people anticipate gossip when they make decisions. And I think if people anticipate intelligent gossip they would make better decisions than if they anticipate unintelligent gossip.


I think that during these hard times “Thinking Fast and Slow” is more relevant than ever. Over the last decade, there has never been a greater need to deepen our understanding and create new models of human behaviour. Having a better understanding of people will help us create products and services for what people want and find easy to use. Forgive me if this sounds too idealistic but I’m optimistic and want to make the world a better place for us all. Contact me via e-mail and let me know how this thinking makes you feel.

---

Follow my leader

© Rawpixel Ltd

““A person who wants to lead an orchestra must turn their back to the crowd.” - James Crook”

This quote offers a humble perspective of leadership. Leadership is not a popularity contest, I think a a good leader doesn’t do his (or her) job for praise or recognition. The best leaders are the ones who do their job silently and enable their employees. The leaders whom I most respect are humble, honest and dependable. They listen and learn and take in new information, because they care enough to understand the perspectives of others and strong enough to stand alone when the crowd is not with them. What values are looking for in your leader? Contact me via e-mail for a meeting (in confidence).

Patterns of behaviour

Demographics are the statistical data of a population, e.g. age, income, education, ethnicity, gender, employment status, etc. I think that this is old school, and it can be seen as a very useful insight into the culture of the people or a certain population that exists in a certain region. Back in the “pre-internet” days you could buy all this information from a mail order company to create marketing strategy as well as a marketing plan for your business. Psychographics focuses on collecting and analyzing the characteristics of an audience that are slightly more intangible, for example, values, habits, attitudes, interests, emotions, personality, lifestyle, opinions and preferences.



When data collection is being done properly, people are happy to have it done, for example, Netflix, Spotify and YouTube recommendations. This is because it is being done for them, not to them. With Facebook algorithms and Google analytics we can say: “This is for people who like that and this is for people who believe this.” It doesn’t matter about your skin colour or income, it’s all about what is your inner narrative. In every postal area there are people from almost every psycho-graphical perception and what we have to do as a brand marketer is say: “This is for you and it’s not for you.” Contact me via e-mail for an evaluation of your brand marketing strategy.

---

Don't blame the machine

I was very young when I heard the proverb - a bad workman always blames his tools - for the first time. The meaning of this proverb is our success does not depend on what kind of tools we have but how we use them. In other words, a person may have the best equipment in the world but if he does not know how to use them, he can never complete a job successfully.


I am not a medical professional, but I do think that it’s our beliefs and not our DNA that affects our biology. Throughout my life I have heard “sob stories” from people who believe that they are victims of their heredity. After reading masses of literature on the subject, modern research shows that genes do not control anything. We are the masters of our genetic fate because we can change our beliefs, environment and minds, and these are the things that control our biology.

Genes are only responsible for less than 1% of the diseases on earth, so 99% of illnesses are not because of a physical breakdown. It’s what Bruce Lipton metaphorically calls “driver error”. For many years scientists believed that our genes were controlling us, our genes were the “driver of our lives”. Nowadays we acknowledge that the mind is the real controller, and with good programming for example, how to take care of our health, our biology and the environment in which we live, then we will realise that we are the masters of our genetic fate.


Our thoughts, beliefs and how we interact with the world are affecting our genetic expression - mind and body. Our body responds to the chemistry of our thoughts, this can be easily demonstrated by a simple example: compare the feeling of being in love and the feeling of being scared. The chemicals released into our body when we are in love are completely different to the emotions felt when the brain is in fear mode.

---

Do you really care?

c/o Getty Images

““No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” - Theodore Roosevelt”

---

Revenue solves all problems

c/o depositphotos

We have some unwritten laws of behaviour in society, for example, the body language of how to tell whether someone is interested in our culture. This is because people tend not to tell 100% the truth, not because they are lying, it’s just because no one ever gets rewarded for delivering bad news. There are also laws in sales, the problem is no one ever tells you about them. As sales persons we are used to establishing best practices, our own rules or other peoples that fits into what you are selling and the way you sell. There are principles and habits which are simple ways to confine the game we are playing.

When you buy a new board game - one you have never played before - the first thing you do is read the instructions and learn the rules. What are the laws of how to move? Who goes when? Who gets skipped? What are the definition of winning? etc., etc. And in sales these are all critical elements. For some reason in sales, no one really talks about them or shares them because they are no incentives to do so. Most sales persons are lone wolfs and see everybody as a competitor instead of a collaborator.

We learn the traffic rules whilst learning to drive, but in reality, we learn the rules once we have passed our driving test. The speed limits, the rules of when to stop, when to slow down, when to pull over, which lane to drive in, etc., etc. Some of them are written down and others are not. Similarly, in sales the rules and laws also needs to be learned because this is the way the game is played. I think it will save us so much time if we document our sales rules and occasionally review them, as we cannot remember all of them. We have to have a general rule of behaviour, patterns and habits to become successful. Contact me via e-mail for an evaluation of your procedures or sales training opportunities.

---

Science vs. spirituality

In theory, science is intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Spirituality embraces the idea of an ultimate inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of our being. And spirituality is centred on the deepest values and meanings by which people live.


I think that science answers the questions about how the world works, spirituality answers the questions about why the world works. Science is dependent on observations of a phenomena and it the best theory to explain it. Spirituality is dependent on faith and belief systems which are usually not reliable when positioned next to the empirical evidence that scientific data provides. In general science and spirituality are the tools we use to better understand ourselves.

---

Accelerating the process

This morning I read an article about unlocking human potential. This led me to think about how few organisations understand the value of installing a sense of meaning for their employees, leaders and customers. We all know that sales is the critical interface between supplier and customer, we also know that the role of the sales person is to gain trust and progress guide the customer towards your solution.


I think that if the senior management were to install a deep sense of meaning into the work that they are doing, then the organisation would be significantly more productive, effective and innovative, and more likely to win the customer’s mind. Both employees and leaders would feel a higher degree of engagement and life quality. Would you like to take your organisation to the next level of performance by increasing the sense of purpose and belonging? Contact me via e-mail for workshops, mentorship and coaching.

---

The power of reframing things

Reframing is a technique used to help create a different way of looking at a situation, person or relationship, by changing its meaning. Reframing requires seeing something in a new way, in a context that allows us to recognize and appreciate positive aspects of our situation. Reframing helps us to use whatever life hands us as opportunities to be taken advantage of, rather than problems to be avoided. I think that reality is not a particularly good guide to human happiness as we often forget:
1) Things are not what they are, they are are what we think they are.
2) Things are what we compare them to.

Another way to understand the concept of reframing is to imagine looking through the frame of a camera lens. The picture seen through the lens can be changed to a view that is closer or further away. By slightly changing what is seen in the camera, the picture is both viewed and experienced differently. Contact me via e-mail for guidance, mentorship or coaching.

---

Where do I position myself in my own story?

I think that it’s a universal human desire to be heard, to have one’s unique identity recognised and seen as worthy. Therefore, I have always made a point of showing an interest in the history, culture, and people of the the places I have visited. Believe it or not, I really do not like speaking about myself.

Last night I was asked the question, “What do you really do?
I replied, my mission is to inspire organisations by showing them how to simultaneously deliver happiness to their customers, employees and community in a long-term sustainable way. As I think the smartest selling tools add value to existing systems and processes, I do this by using the 4 D’s (discover, define, develop and deliver).

---

Do you actually stand for something?

I think that all organisations today should have a manifesto which contains a manual for how they connect to their customers in a deep and meaningful way. Not just how to sell their customers more “stuff”. What I have found is that the successful organisations are those who are connecting their customers to each other, for example, Apple and Microsoft. Both Apple and Microsoft have proved beyond reasonable doubt that you can make money from this if you are enriching your customers lives and connecting them to each other.


If you are going to build a tribe then you have to ask yourselves whether to make it easy to join, trivial or exclusive. It’s really not a hard decision, the most important factor is the tribe should not be trivial as nobody wants to join a tribe that is average. People will only join tribes that they identify with and/ or believe in. Building a tribe means creating a following of people respect you, believe in you, support you, know what you are talking about and want you to succeed. Historically, there were only 3 tribes: work, community and the church.

When we join a tribe we are making a statement about ourselves. Are you interested in knowing how to inspire loyalty and a feeling of belonging? Please send me an e-mail when you ready to build or grow your tribe.

---

Willingness to listen

““Living with integrity means: Not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking your truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values. Making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe.” - Barbara De Angelis”

---

Finding the North Star

The definition of digital marketing has not fundamentally changed, what has changed is the relevance and the essential role of digital. Especially the relationship between the consumer and brand, and vice versa. Building a bridge between where the companies were to where they are today - in mindset, in understanding of the power of digital and in understanding how the platform is being transformed.

I think the key ingredient is that brands must ensure they keep their core values and positioning intact. The digital transformation story for your brand begins with a real need to understand your digital engagement. We can look at what is digital, from both the platform and a social standpoint. I can guide your brand through the process of moving forward from simply understanding what they need to do, to actually implementing those changes throughout you organisation. Contact me via e-mail (confidentiality is assured).

---

Without action your dreams will remain dreams

You may have heard the below quotation before, have you ever thought about what Thoreau was trying to tell us? I think that the modern implications of Thoreau's quote is rooted in the idea that individuals must listen to their own sense of voice.  

““If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” - Henry David Thoreau ”

Thoreau is passionate about the idea that individuals break free from conformist notions of the good. I think that if you have evaluated your career choices from the perspective of “meaning” and have identified something worth pursuing, then evaluated the potential risk and reward which led you to seriously consider pursuing your dreams, and then developed sufficient belief in yourself to take serious action, then all that is left is for you to set goals for yourself and take consistent action toward achieving your dreams.

Illustration c/o iStock

If you are not happy with you current career situation send me an e-mail (confidentiality is assured).

---

International Women's Day

Every action from anti-slavery movements to women’s rights, from civil rights to LGBT has been met be opposition. You don’t have to look like me to share my outrage at injustice, you simply have to believe in freedom for all and join me on my daily struggle.

---

Quote of the day

““We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” - Benjamin Franklin”

---

On a journey

Earlier this week I finished reading Barak Obama’s book, “A Promised Land”. Whenever I read, I am always thinking about what kind of world view would make this language effective. All marketing creates change and if you are not creating change then, you are not in marketing. I think the only chance of succeeding is to be specific in the discovery phase, asking the client about the who are the people they are trying to reach and change.


- What change are you seeking to make and who are you trying to change?
- Are you trying to change lonely people into connected people?
- Are you trying to change powerful people into kinder people?
- Are you trying to change people with one status into people with another status?
Send me an e-mail if you would like to have a fresh approach whilst figuring out your path to action.

---

The hard part is getting it done

The difference between getting noticed and being ignored lies in providing the right content and context for the right audience, the hard part is getting it done! Too often marketing comes at the end of the cycle in creating something, I think marketing is an intentional act and therefore should be integral in the creative process. We should say at the beginning - for people who believe this and want that - I am bringing you something that matches what you believe and helps you get what you want.

Send me an e-mail if you are interested in figuring out how to be honest in the following way:
If I was one of these people who believed in what I say and I knew what I know about this thing, would I buy it? And if one of the people you are speaking about does buy it, would they tell their friends?

---